"We've abandoned 'nine', apparently, and with it the neat logic that had named iPhones to date," Cheshire said.

"Other handset makers like Samsung offered a charcuterie of devices with different names; Apple was, until now, always cleaner."

Between the devices announced on Tuesday; the £699 iPhone 8, the £799 iPhone 8 Plus, and the £999 edge-to-edge display of the iPhone X - there seems to be room for a £899 iPhone 9.

Alas, no such device seems to exist, with Apple plumping to jump from 8 to X, with no mention at all of why.

The Roman numeral X can be understood.

It is a clear nod to a decade since the first iPhone was released, and chief executive Tim Cook was keen to labour that seminal presentation in Apple's new subterranean Steve Jobs Theatre in Cupertino.

Image:The launch included a tribute to late Apple CEO Steve Jobs

:: Windows 8 to Windows 10

Microsoft also missed out on releasing a Windows 9, instead favouring to jump straight from Windows 8 to Windows 10.

The rumours in the technology community for this ranged from the classical Windows-bashing to more sinister marketing ploys.

Some remembered Windows 95 and 98 and suggested that legacy Microsoft software was so poorly written that if it detected a Windows operating system beginning with the numeral 9 then it wouldn't work properly.

The more likely rumour is that Microsoft did this to encourage Windows 7 users to upgrade to Windows 10, aided by Microsoft's plans to allow free upgrades for a brief period.